Chapter 6 Common Ground between Dwarves and Ale

The next morning, as the sun shone through the dusty windows, a strange thought flashed through Jace’s mind as he was very unfamiliar with the house.

Did you cross over again?

He pushed the window open and looked out, filled with lush trees and green grass, blue and yellow birds twittering and hopping on the branches.

The movement of forging hammers and anvils striking and forges drumming rhythmically interlaced with the noise of people in the morning market in the center of the town in the distance.

Jace looked over to the rafters, where a group of people were gathered in front of the blacksmith’s store, lined up to receive something.

This was the town of Shining Gold, and it had been two years since he had come to Storm City, and it was the first time Jace had visited this town.

He realized that he had been bandaged in several places on his body, and if it weren’t for those bandages, he wouldn’t even remember being injured.

But now that I’ve moved those parts again, I can indeed feel the pain, it just doesn’t seem like a serious injury based on the sensation alone.

Thinking about what happened last night as if it were a dream, the Hogg, the Jackal, the terrible rainy night attack, the crazy Dwarven warriors, the Archmage who appeared from the dark woods with a magical light that dispelled evil, it was like traveling into The Lord of the Rings.

By the way, the payoff hasn’t been claimed yet.

Outside the door, the musical sound of lute strumming could already be heard faintly in the stairwell, and the extremely penetrating voice of a woman singing came up the stairs.

Jace smelled the aroma of ale and bread, this was the Lion’s Pride Inn?

In the lobby of the tavern, a lady of about thirty was seen surrounded by a group of drinkers, singing to the accompaniment of a musician who was leaning against the wall:

“He has come.

In front of the Black Stone Tower.

Hammer of Doom.

It had been warlike.

Rosa, you can rest.

No one remembers his name anymore, and your blade will live on forever.

Thunder and lightning.

In front of the Black Stone Tower.

The roar of the beast.

had resounded through the clouds.

Rosa, you can rest.

No one remembers his name anymore, your child has puffed out his chest.

The darkest night is coming to an end.

Dawn is near.”

The melody is quite a bit different from what Jace remembers from the Lion King’s Pride Inn soundtrack, but the tune is pretty close.

The song is about a battle a year ago, when human commander Anduin Lothar arrives to face orc chieftain Orgrim Doomhammer in front of the Black Stone Tower.

After that duel despite Lothar’s death, the orcs were also in an irreversible rout, and Lothar’s lieutenant, Turajan, took General Lothar’s broken sword and defeated Orgrim, blowing the horn for the alliance’s counterattack.

Dawn was indeed near, but it would have been better if there hadn’t been so many troublemaking monsters in the Elwyn Forest.

Out on the street, with a dampness still in the air from the rain, there was a group of veterans gathered at a table, the same group that Jace had looked out at from the second floor.

Jace leaned up and gave his name.

The Quartermaster scratched 2 silver coins and a few copper coins from the pile and said, “A lot of people died that none of us expected, some from Lordaeron and Outlander, and a mercenary from Port Menethil. They have no relatives or friends here, and they don’t know who they should give the money to when they share it out.”

Jace weighed the small bag of money in his hand and it felt heavy.

Back at the inn, he was seeing Grider sitting in an unoccupied corner staring into a large mug of ale.

He sat down across from the dwarf and said smoothly, “Drinking is bad for your wounds.”

“Dwarves have a different body structure than humans.” The Dwarf half-smiled and said, “That’s where I’m going to have to tell you a little bit more about it, our ancestors were ancient earth spirits, and earth spirits come from underground and were created by the earth. And guess what else was created by the earth? Grain, fruit.”

“Look at that.” He picked up his glass and shook the bubbling liquid inside, then continued, “These things ferment like primitive, sturdy earth spirits into us active, wonderful dwarves. Look at these bubbles, not a hair’s breadth different from an old dwarf’s beard, that’s the proof. In other words, we’re the exact same thing as fine wine, ah, the wine slips into my stomach and it’s like a fucking trip back home, my wounds cry out at the sight of all this wine that their good brothers have come and then apply the liquid to themselves, and my muscles rush to rush to grow back. It’s not even wine, it’s like a magic potion that can bring people back to life on the spot, the kind that the most experienced alchemists in Dalaran can’t make, no doubt about it.”

“Dwarves only, of course.” With that, he downed the entire glass in one gulp.

Jace looked at him and smacked his lips, waved back and said, “I’ll have an ale, too.”

Grid gestured to the bandages on Jace and said grimly, “Drinking is not good for injuries, human.”

“What do you care.” Jace took the glass handed to him by the wine waiter and choked and coughed on a gulp, a cough that was followed by a dull ache in his muscles and wounds.

“Heh, weaklings.” Grid shouted, “Bring me another drink, a real dwarven brew, or at least one of those sissy brews from Ironforge!”

It didn’t take long for the bartender to hand him a large glass with a look of impatience in it, the liquor black as cola under the pale coffee-colored bubbles.

“Almost!”

Grid grinned, sniffed deeply, then sighed.

“What’s up.” Jess asked as she took a sip.

“Homesick, I want to go back to Eagle’s Nest Mountain.” The dwarf said.

Jace drew a long diagonal line on the table, which went around Dunhold Castle and stretched all the way to the north within the glen, and said as he did so, “But to get to Cintron from Southsea Town, you must go through the Hillsblade Hills, which are not yet peaceful, and I’ve heard that there are still orcs roaming around there.”

The dwarf’s eyes followed the line as it moved toward the other side of the table and said, “So what, even Orgrim Doom has been captured in the dungeon, and all that’s left is just a bunch of bandits and robbers.”

More than that, in fact, there is the Frostwolf Clan that has settled in the Otterland Valley, a group of terrifying hunters capable of driving white-furred direwolves stronger than old oxen into battle are not content to hide in the white snow-covered mountains, they also come down to Hillsbreed below the mountains from time to time to loot and pillage for supplies to get by.

Not to mention, there is another clan several times more fearsome, the Battlecry Clan, led by the berserker Grom Hellroar, who is feared even in Draenor.

Any one of these thugs who drank demon blood would probably be able to break Hogg’s crooked mouth with their bare hands.

Jace remembers them wandering among the mountains, forests and hills of Lordaeron for over a decade, and can’t pinpoint their exact hideout at this point.

That said, it’s still considered safe to travel to Southsea Town from Stormwind Harbor.

After all, orc warships were hardly a match for Gilneas and Lordaeron’s navy, and immediately disappeared after the Dark Gate was attacked and their rear supplies were cut off.

But if you head north from Southsea Town into the Silver Pine Forest, or Dunhold, north of the Hillsbridge Hills, it’s a different story altogether.

Thinking of this, he suddenly realized that his entire belongings couldn’t even afford to pay for the journey from Stormwind Harbor to South Sea Town, let alone the food and drink supplies on the way, so what was the point of worrying about this?

“Sorry, Jace.” The Dwarf snapped, “Yesterday I told you this trip was a total layover, and I didn’t realize that I almost did lay down and couldn’t get up.”

Jace shook his head and said, “After all, silver coins aren’t that easy to earn, as I learned very well during the day yesterday.”

“What have you been up to?” Grid asked curiously.

“Don’t mention it.” Jace said, “I was told about a two silver dollar job, I thought that’s what it was for, and I went and got my ass kicked.”

The dwarf froze for a moment after hearing this, then suddenly burst out laughing, his beard full of beer bubbles.

“You actually let someone pay for a beating? I thought you sold your ass for money.”

“Selling …… selling ass?” The corner of Jess’s mouth twitched.

“Next time you run into that guy, remember to contact me and check out these muscles of mine.” He stroked his stone-like shoulders and said, “If I don’t let him beat me until he’s tipped over the edge, I’ll be sorry for this body, this strength, this spirit that my Cintron hometown raised for me.”

After a few beers with Grid, all the pain and aftermath of last night had dissipated. The woman who had been singing had left the tavern at some point, leaving the musician alone with his lyre, playing an unknown lilting tune into the extinguished fireplace.

After a full day’s stay in the town of Shining Gold, he departed in the afternoon with the caravan back to Stormwind City, and it was already evening when he arrived in the trade area.

The smell of barbecue wafted out of the gold-encrusted roses on that side of the small square, and the two Jesses, heedless of the price, rushed in after a day and a night of no food and devoured the liver pies and smoked schnitzels that they usually didn’t bother to buy, and drank until midnight.

Back home, Jess spilled the money he’d earned over the past two days onto the table and counted them one by one.

After removing the ale, pies and barbecue chops, and yesterday’s expenses, there are still 4 silver and 60 copper left in total, pay the rent and save a little money, can almost last through this month to go.

But if you want to buy a house of your own to bring your parents from Lordaeron, it’s absolutely impossible to just get by.

It was just that the last two days had been a real thrill, it wasn’t realistic to earn money like that continuously, and even if he had been lucky enough not to get killed, Jace’s body couldn’t handle it.

Luckily, Eden Marin had agreed to make himself an assistant, so maybe he could live in the Mage Quarter from now on instead of having to pay rent all the time.

If it was a better situation, maybe not only housing but also food would be included, don’t all the mage apprentices in Dalaran in World of Warcraft eat and live in the school?

Is it? Wasn’t it? He realized he was on the verge of forgetting those specifics in his worldview.

Either way, there should be some income and preferential treatment in the mage district as an assistant, right? At least it could be considered a stable job.

Jace couldn’t help but smile at the thought, even when he was so drunk that his consciousness was blurred and his eyes stayed in a trance.

Suddenly, a strong feeling of vomiting came up in his throat, and Jess ran out of the house and scurried to the canal, where he vomited it all into the river.

Turning over and looking into the night sky, with a large and a small moon in the sky looking at him so like reflective glasses, Jace remembered the girl with glasses that he had a crush on in middle school.

Is there any hope of getting home? Back to Earth.

Maybe never.

But there’s nothing wrong with this place, it’s thrilling and exciting every day, and it’s more fun than being a social animal.

Maybe in the future he could even find a white-haired female elf girl to fall in love with, he smiled heatedly at the thought, drool dripping down the corners of his mouth.

“What earthling glasses girl, I don’t want it! I want an elf girl, I want an elf girl!”

Two old men who were night fishing nearby looked over at the drunken man, and one of them asked, “What did he say?”

The other shook his head and said, “Can’t understand it, probably from Kul Tiras, I heard that people over there talk in this flavor, like singing.”